Two blue states are still trying to force nuns’ healthcare plans to cover contraceptives.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty asked an appeals court today to thwart a ruling requiring the Little Sisters of the Poor to include contraceptives in their healthcare plan, Becket stated in a press release Tuesday. An Obama-appointed federal judge ruled in August 2025 that the group of Catholic nuns must comply Pennsylvania’s and New Jersey’s mandate or risk facing millions of dollars in fines.
“For fifteen years, government officials have stepped into the ring with the Little Sisters and gotten pummeled every time,” Becket president Mark Rienzi, the Little Sisters’ lead attorney in the case, stated in the press release. “You’d think Pennsylvania and New Jersey would know better by now—but some bureaucrats are just gluttons for punishment. We’re confident the court will deliver yet another victory protecting the Little Sisters’ ministry to the most vulnerable.”
The Obama-era U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) required most employers to provide contraceptives in their healthcare plans as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2012. However, it didn’t have an exception for certain religious groups like the Little Sisters, according to Becket’s press release. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the Little Sisters were exempt as conscientious objectors, Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued the Trump-era HHS to reverse that protection. The Supreme Court upheld that protection in 2020.
“For nearly 200 years we have welcomed the elderly poor and dying into our homes, and with the population of seniors rapidly growing we cannot allow a government lawsuit to stop us from carrying out our mission,” Little Sisters’ Mother Loraine Marie Maguire stated in the Tuesday press release. “Pennsylvania and New Jersey can keep fighting if they want. All we want is to keep serving.”
Becket is a “public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths,” according to its website. It’s named after Saint Thomas Becket, an archbishop who was assassinated by King Henry II’s supporters after refusing to let the king interfere with the Catholic Church’s affairs. Notable Supreme Court victories include Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), Agudath Israel v. Cuomo (2021) Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025).
(DCNF)
